Take-off instead of departure

Pilot chases across the Streif in a plane

Breathtaking how Dario Costa raced down the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel.(Bild: Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool)

Intrepid ski racers whizz down the Streif in Kitzbühel as fast as a car. They fly up to 80 meters on the steepest part of the world's wildest downhill run with a gradient of 85 percent. A top-class pilot with a connection to Burgenland flew even further.

Burgenland Tourism CMO Kurt Kaiser had a mischievous smile on his lips when he met old comrades-in-arms from the "Flying Bulls" at the Guide Michelin awards ceremony at Hangar-7 in Salzburg and was able to rediscover the Zivko Edge 540 aerobatic aircraft. Why?

He could not and was not allowed to reveal that at the time. Just two days later, the whole world was presented with the answer. Dario Costa, a former aerobatic pilot and good friend of his, took a highly spectacular flight over the Streif in Kitzbühel. This propeller ride at lofty heights just above the snow-covered slope is breathtaking!

Kurt Kaiser in front of the legendary Zivko Edge 540.(Bild: Grammer Karl)

Kaiser also has an emotional attachment to this aircraft. This fascinating model was the air show and stunt plane of Hannes Arch, whom the marketing professional accompanied around the globe for years as team manager and close friend. Kaiser had worked closely with Red Bull Air Race World Champion Hannes Arch until his tragic death in an accident in 2016. Always with him was the plane in which the Austrian pilot legend flew many impressive stunts and shows.

Pilot Dario Costa (right) was the guest of honor at the first Red-Golden Grape award ceremony - he chatted with Wein-Burgenland Chairman Herbert Oschep about the highest level of enjoyment in fluent Italian.(Bild: Privat)

Precise, cool, professional
Now Burgenland's tourism CMO can only take his hat off to Dario Costa: "What an achievement! After his Über-Flight, in which he was the first person to fly through a tunnel in an airplane in 2021, he has now gone one better with his superlative Streif stunt. Extremely precise, cool and absolutely professional. Chapeau!" And Kaiser knows one more thing full of nostalgia: "No matter where Hannes is watching us from, he is proud of Dario's performance and applauds him with a 'big smile'."